


Today

by MirrorElm



Series: Ever After [1]
Category: Peaky Blinders (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Apocalypse, Amputation, Angst, Established Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Hallucinations, Hurt/Comfort, Insect Horde, M/M, Post-Apocalypse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, giant insects
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:21:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25378330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MirrorElm/pseuds/MirrorElm
Summary: The world has been shaken by the sudden and unexplained arrival of giant insects. Enitre societies have been wiped out by the hordes. The few who survived the initial attacks were forced to adapt to a new way of living.Thomas Shelby was a child when this happened. He can barely remember his life before, now used to travelling the English country in the caravans with his family. Meeting Alfie Solomons turns his life around and he ends up settling down in New Camden, an advanced settlement in what used to be London. It's supposed to be his happy end, but an unexpected even shakes the core foundation of his world.
Relationships: Tommy Shelby/Alfie Solomons
Series: Ever After [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1837825
Comments: 26
Kudos: 34





	1. I thought I knew

_Humans are beings of category. We like to put things into neat little boxes with labels on them. It calms us. When we find something complex, it’s almost an impulse to chop it into its tiniest bits so we can fit it into our neat little categories, our small and pretty boxes. We do this with everything in our lives, even our lives themselves. Past, present and future; yesterday, today and tomorrow._

_My yesterday was when I met you, those early days in the forest. We were a small group and we lived day to day. Life was simple. You did what you did to survive._

_I thought my today would have been when you lost your leg to that creature. I sat there drenched in your blood by your cot for what seemed like an eternity, praying to a God I no longer believed in. And you woke up. And that was supposed to be my tomorrow._

_But it wasn’t._

_I always thought my yesterday would be a painful memory, my today its worst peak, and my tomorrow the happy ever after._

_How naïve to think this world would offer me that luxury._


	2. Kenwood House

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tommy and Alfie help take Kenwood house for New Camden.

“Morning sunshine, time to get up,” Alfie’s gruff voice wakes Tommy from his slumber. The sun’s barely risen, it’s too early to be up, so he huddles closer to the warmth at his side in protest.

Alfie chuckles and presses a whiskery kiss to Tommy’s forehead, “I know, mate. It’s going to be a long fucking day, innit, but we can’t sleep in. Too much to do,” the warmth at his side disappears and yet he refuses to open his eyes. Instead, he chases the lingering heat beneath the covers. Covers, which are yanked away unceremoniously when he hears Alfie’s done putting on his prosthesis.

Tommy opens his eyes to glare at him.

“Fucking hell, look at you,” Alfie sighs from where he’s standing, “such a sight for sore eyes. Might fucking tempt me right back to bed, you little devil.”

He’s naked where he lies on the bed, still not entirely awake, but awake enough to know an opportunity when it presents itself. Tommy sleepily stretches across the sheets, making sure Alfie gets to see him in full.

“Hmm,” the standing man purrs deeply and is about to climb back to Tommy when he hears a banging on the door of their small one-bedroom apartment. So fucking close.

“Oi, Solomons, Shelby, you better be ready to leave in five minutes!” Captain Lee shouts through the old wooden door, “we’re taking Kenwood today! Kenwood, can you believe it?”

“We’ll be there,” Alfie half-heartedly shouts back. He bends down by the foot of the bed, picking up his modified black cargo pants and putting them on begrudgingly. The pants are cut off below the knee on his right leg, exposing the metallic prosthetic leg. He’s modified that too, allowing him to store ammunition and various tools inside a loose metal frame. Alfie looks almost more than human when he’s in his full military get up, but today they’re packing light.

Tommy drags himself out of bed and starts getting ready. They’ve showered last night so he’s good on that front, he just needs to find a set of clean clothes and to check his gear before they head out, stealing glances at his husband while he does exactly that.

Alfie needs another haircut, Tommy thinks, watching the messy ends of his hair stick up in every direction. Tommy absentmindedly cards his hair through it while Alfie is lacing his shoe to smooth the stubborn strands out, which earns him a tender kiss to the palm.

“Kenwood, Tommy, can you believe it?” he mocks.

“It’s a historic moment,” Tommy smiles back. It really is. Even if it’s essentially just General Campbell’s vanity project, it’s at least a very strategic outpost for patrols. Hampstead Heath is an area still marked as _unreliable_ in its security, but Kenwood House as an outpost could greatly improve that.

When they’re done, they check each other’s gear one last time before leaving their apartment. Well, it’s not really their apartment. They’ve been moved to Willow road along with the rest of Tommy’s division last week so they can monitor Hampstead Heath better. It might become their home, but no one knows if they’ll be able to keep this territory. So far, other than the odd straggler, there haven’t been any issues with bigger groups or hordes of the creatures coming through. And Campbell’s been surprisingly capable. They might even rethink the borders of the wall.

“Ready to make history, Lieutenant Shelby?” Alfie asks as he adjusts the straps of Tommy’s backpack.

Tommy huffs a laugh, “ready if you are, _Second_ Lieutenant Solomons.”

“Yeah, fucking rub it in why don’t you,” Alfie tries to sound offended, but gives Tommy a kiss anyways, “that fucker Campbell’s probably too intimidated by my wit and charm to ever consider giving me my own troop.”

“Yeah, well,” Tommy starts their walk down the street towards the newly built stables, “I like having you in mine.”

“Hm,” Alfie agrees, “I get to watch your back _and_ your pretty arse, yeah, not that bad of a deal.”

Tommy checks his troop to see if everyone’s there at the stables then steps up to Captain Lee to receive his orders. They’re off to Kenwood House within the hour.

Taking Kenwood is easy. They run into two medium sized creatures, the yellow ones with the red spots, but they’re able to take them out without any casualties. Tommy checks on Alfie before approaching one of the corpses. They’re ugly things, he thinks. Giant creatures with thick shells like lobsters, bodies like centipedes and disgusting maws. This one’s not venomous, the red ones are, but he takes some samples for Lizzie anyways.

Where the hell they came from is still a mystery, and if you ask Tommy, it doesn’t really matter. He’s spent most of his life in this world, the world _after_ , as some call it, and he’s gotten used to the constant fear of those black beady eyes and the tap of a thousand feet. He doesn’t remember the horde that ravaged Small Heath when he was little, but he knows the casualties.

All that ever mattered to him was surviving, that was until Alfie led them to this community in south Camden. Back then the settlement had barely established a clean water system and were months away from electricity, but they still afforded him a safety which Tommy to this day considers a luxury. Serving in their military seemed to be the least he could do. He steps away from the corpse and surveys the nearby area. They’re in the forest behind Kenwood House.

“We’re going to have to cut this down,” he says when Alfie comes closer, “we need a better field of vision to spot stragglers.”

“Nah,” Alfie argues, “we’ve got sensors for that, don’t we, mate? Be a shame to cut down all this beauty.”

“Sensors fail,” Tommy simply says. Alfie knows he’s right. Can’t rely solely on technology, can they.

“I’m going to scout north,” Tommy offers, moving back to his horse Dangerous, “better if I go alone, the less scents we leave there, the better.”

He rubs himself down with some the dry dirt as Alfie follows him, “oh, come on, Tommy,” he protests, “let’s go inside, they’re opening some old bottles they’ve found. Even Lee’s on board with a little celebration.”

“You go,” Tommy orders as he heaves himself onto his horse, “I’ll be back in an hour.”

Alfie pouts up at him but eventually sighs and sags his shoulders, “don’t do anything stupid, love,” he squeezes his thigh and watches Tommy ride off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we go :D  
> I'll try to keep the updates somewhat daily until I've exhausted what I've got written so far.  
> By the by, this segment was written as one whole unit, so parsing it into chapters is going to mean inconsistency in chapter lenght. I hope that's not too big of an issue :P


	3. They tumble and they crash

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tommy makes a harrowing discovery and tries.

95 576 people.

That’s all Tommy can think about as he gallops back down south. 95 576 people in New Camden and they’re all a couple of kilometres away from a horde headed directly towards them.

Fuck.

“Come on, Dangerous,” he says to the horse. 95 576 people.

Evacuation protocols are already resurfacing in his mind. There’s an alarm. Designated pick up areas with rarely used but frequently checked vehicles. Three newly constructed underground bunkers meant to house 150 000 people altogether from repurposed areas down south. They’re prepared for this. They can do this. He needs to keep his panic down.

Tommy stops by Kenwood House and finds Captain Lee. He’s in a big room with about forty other men, Alfie included, celebrating and drinking. At least _he_ seems sober. Alfie follows them with a concerned furrow of his brow as they step outside into the corridor. Tommy doesn’t dance around the issue.

“There’s a horde, it’s heading here, it’ll be here come evening. We need to evacuate. Now.”

Alfie’s eyes go wide. Lee chuckles, “Shelby, maybe we _did_ wake you up too early? The sensors say everything’s clear, maybe you saw some wild deer or something.”

“Wild deer don’t have giant fucking pincers!” he’s getting angry now.

Lee’s smile is gone when he sees the serious expression on Tommy’s face.

“Very well,” he concedes with a nervous edge to his voice, “I’ve sent most of the troops back, except yours and Billy Kitchen’s. Make sure everyone’s accounted for and head back to the stables on Willow road. I’m reporting this to General Campbell.”

Tommy nods and starts moving towards the room to rally his men, but is stopped by Alfie’s hand on his shoulder, “Tommy, you alright?”

“I will be. When we get to safety,” he presses his forehead against Alfie’s and allows himself to linger for one moment before pulling away, “get the horses ready.”

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“General Campbell, he’s very sure-,”

“Very sure of what, Captain, that he’s seen a horde?” Campbell doesn’t look up from his papers, “that boy has never been near a horde, Captain Lee, I assure you that all he’s seen is a small group of stragglers, probably headed to the east. If it were anything other than that, the sensors would show it.”

Lee nods reluctantly and is about to leave General Campbell’s office when the other man adds, “and Captain, make sure he doesn’t spread any unwarranted panic. There’s no need for any of that nonsense on such a fine day. Oh, and send a troop back to Kenwood House. I want it as an established outpost by next week. Dismissed.”

“Yes, sir,” Lee agrees and shuffles out, but he’s unable to shake his nervousness. He meets Tommy and Billy as they arrive at the stables with their men.

“Change of plans,” he shouts, “Lieutenant Kitchen, back to Kenwood House. You’re staying there with your troop tonight.”

“What?” Kitchen protests, “you can’t be serious! There’s a fucking horde!”

“Apparently not,” Lee looks down to the ground, “so the sensors say.”

“Fuck the sensors,” Tommy interjects, “I know what I saw. You can’t-,”

“General Campbell says you’ve never seen a horde and are blowing it out of proportion. The sensors show no significant movement towards us and that’s that. Lieutenant Kitchen, I will not repeat myself.”

Billy seems taken aback, but nods, commanding his men to follow him back to Kenwood House. To his death, Tommy thinks. He steps off of the horse, close to Lee, “You can’t let him do this Darius. You know me.”

95 576 people.

“I’m sorry, Tommy,” he places a hand on Tommy’s shoulder, “your orders are to go home, take the day off. And don’t make a racket,” he sighs, “he’s probably right, Tommy, you’ve never seen a horde before and the machinery has never failed us so far. Get some rest,” he nods at Alfie.

Tommy becomes numb as he watches Lee leave. The horses are taken to the stables. At some point, Alfie takes hold of his arm.

“Tommy,” he looks him straight in the eyes, “tell me what to do.”

The north is going to get hit hardest when the horde comes. God knows when the goddamn sensors will show the horde approach if they show anything if at all, so their best bet is someone from Kitchen’s troop escaping the horde to come warn them. Even that isn’t going to be enough to save the most northern regions.

He can’t let Alfie die. He can’t let his family die. They’re all home in the north. If Campbell is willing to gamble with 95 576 lives, so fucking be it, but Tommy isn’t letting him gamble with his family’s lives too.

“Get to Arthur, John, Esme, Linda and the kids, you know where they live. Tell them to grab their shit and head to the southeast evacuation point. I’ll get Polly, Lizzie, Finn and Ada and meet you there. We’re taking one of the smaller cars to bunker 1.”

“What about the others?” Alfie asks hesitantly, “we need to raise hell, Tommy.”

“If we do that, Campbell shuts us down and we save no one, Alfie,” it breaks his heart to say this, “we need to keep this to ourselves.”

“Fucking hell, Tommy,” Alfie breathes, wiping his face roughly with the palm of his hand, “alright, yeah, fuck. Okay, on it.”

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“A horde?” Ada’s brows furrow as she crosses her arms, “but there’s no alarm.”

“And there won’t be one,” Tommy picks up her emergency backpack and checks her rations, “not until it’s too late for the north. Campbell doesn’t believe me.”

Ada huffs in disbelief, sitting at the foot of her bed, “holy fuck.”

“Ada, I know,” he hands her the backpack, “but we need to move.”

“And just leave the others to die? There’s families on this street, Tommy, my colleagues, my friends,” she argues.

“If we tell the street, there’s panic,” he pinches the bridge of his nose, “panic spreads, Campbell finds out and _that_ could lead him to stubbornly close gates, maybe issue a curfew, even prevent access to evac areas. It means more people die, Ada.”

“So these people are dead already?” her eyes sting as she gazes out of the window at the unknowing residents, “there’s no helping them?”

“I’m sorry,” he keeps his face neutral, his emotions numb, Tommy needs a clear head right now, “we have to leave now.”

She nods, clutching her backpack, then takes a deep breath to steady herself before they move out. When a neighbour greets them on their way out, the siblings feel the dread coil in their stomachs. Ada rides with Tommy while Lizzie rides with Polly. They meet Alfie with the others by the gates of the southeast evacuation point.

Tommy takes the lead in talking to the guard, using both his rank and his steely gaze to get access to a smaller van.

“It’s not fortified,” Polly eyes the vehicle sceptically.

“It doesn’t have to be,” Tommy checks the gas and takes a quick look at the engine, “you’ll be at the bunker before there’s any danger. Make sure they don’t turn you away.”

Ada steps away from where she’s been helping the kids get in the back, “wait, you’re not coming?”

“No, neither is Alfie,” he moves on to the tires, “we’re military. We’ve got work up north.”

Alfie only nods from where he is a watchful guard checking their surroundings. So far, they’ve been undisturbed.

“Don’t be fucking silly, Tommy,” Arthur interjects, “come with us.”

“He’s right, Arthur,” John mutters, “we’ve got a duty.”

“Oi! Not you,” Esme pulls him towards the van, pointing at the doors, “inside, now.”

“I want to help too,” Finn’s voice rings from inside the van. Polly rolls her eyes and glares at Tommy, the message _look at what you did_ clearly written on her face.

Tommy sighs and pulls John aside, “I need you to keep this family safe while you’re travelling to the bunker, eh? You and Arthur. No arguments.”

John sighs, still unhappy but resigned anyways. There’s no way he’s convincing both Esme and Tommy.

“Tommy,” Alfie calls out eyes set firmly on two new approaching guards, “think they better be on their way now.”

The family shuffles inside the van and disappears down the road before more protests can be uttered, though Tommy can’t stop the quick hug Ada squeezes him in, telling him to be careful.

The two guards approach the men with stern expressions but Alfie only smiles, “family trip.”

“Right,” the guard on the left eyes the men sceptically, “you know we’re going to have to report this.”

“Go ahead,” Tommy pays her no mind as he passes her, “it won’t matter.”

Alfie follows him out of the gates and they ride back up north.

“How much time do we have?” he asks as they approach the northwest evacuation point, where they’re assigned as escorts during evacuation.

“Not sure, maybe an hour or so,” Tommy looks towards the setting sun. The streets look so peaceful. It’s such a lovely summer evening. Tommy would love nothing more than to spend it lazily reading that new collection of books he’d discovered at their newly assigned apartment while Alfie absentmindedly cards through his hair. He looks over to the other man. The soft glow of the pink clouds takes years off of Alfie’s face. Not that he’s that old, but life like this takes its toll.

They stop to a halt before the gates and dismount. Alfie laces his fingers with Tommy’s. They’re nervous.

“We should get ahead of this,” Tommy tries to sound assertive, “there’s no use in waiting around. Get the men ready, I’ll speak to Lee.”

Before Alfie can nod in agreement, they hear the sirens.

Tommy’s heart sinks. So much for getting ahead. The horde’s moving faster than he’d anticipated.

“Alright,” Tommy breathes, “here we go. Alfie, you’re staying with me, understand? No running off without my permission.”

Alfie nods, closing the gap between them for a quick kiss before they’re off shouting orders, helping people evacuate and checking their guns.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you enjoyed ;D


	4. To survive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The horde is here. There is nothing left to do but to run.

Dusk settles heavily over New Camden. The panic is a subdued murmur of the crowd. People are walking hastily towards armoured vehicles with little to none of their possessions. No one is running, yet. There’s a slight rumble on the ground, but the horde’s still too far away to be heard.

It doesn’t take much time to get most of the evac cars filled. Tommy’s sent a lot of them out already, but they need to be smart about the routes so they don’t cause any congestion. Fucking London streets. Not built with a quick escape in mind, were they?

It’s not long before scouts report that the horde is closing in, moving primarily through Hampstead Heath. Fuck. The rest of the cars have to move.

_Now_.

Captain Lee was called to the northeast for assistance and has left Tommy in charge an hour ago. The decision is his. Tommy calls out for the vehicles to move.

They’re navigating painfully slowly through dimly lit and narrow streets. Tommy’s sitting atop a dark armoured truck at the very front, keeping an eye out for trouble. It’s silent except for the cars. Well, that is until there’s shouting from behind. And then gunshots.

The first of the horde are here.

When the smaller slithery creatures make their appearance, it’s an easy feat for his trained soldiers. No trouble for any cars, at least not yet. But Tommy’s not one for premature optimism. There’s only a few critters at first, but he knows that soon the whole street will be crawling with these nightmares.

Fucking shit, this isn’t going to end well. There’s over five hundred people in these cars right now. They need to split up, take two paths to reach the west gates-

“Crusher!” one of his soldiers, Freddie Thorne, yells from behind. They have barely enough time to react and stop the vehicles before the giant black centipede like creature slithers out in front of them, crushing several buildings in its path.

He’s never seen one this big. It’s surely the size of several streets in length and wide enough for two cars. It tramples a number of people as it moves, their bloodcurdling screams sending shivers down Tommy’s spine. No matter how many times he’s seen death, he will never get used to it.

The creature seems to have coiled itself around them, spiralling inside to enjoy a tasty fucking treat, but Tommy isn’t having any of that.

“Everyone, stay steady! Aim for the nooks between the shells at the head!”

The soldiers fire at the creature as it continues circling them, crushing a couple of the outer vehicles. It’s no use, the shells are too thick and the bullets just ricochet, the nooks are the only weak spot, but when it’s this dark and with the thing moving like this… how could anyone hit that?

They’re forced to climb out and on top of their cars to stay out of range of its disgusting face as it coils itself further. Some don’t make it. Their bones snap as the darkness pulls them under. Tommy raises his hand in an order to cease fire. This isn’t doing anything.

Fucking shit. He takes a breath for courage then grabs a grenade. There’s another weak spot to these critters.

Their ugly fucking face.

Tommy steps out into the beast’s path, several soldiers, including Alfie, shouting after him. But he’s got this. He has to. The black creature barrels towards him. Tommy takes out the pin and holds the clasp down tightly.

One.

Two.

He throws the grenade as the creature shrieks at him mere metres away. His face is splattered with warm dark blood when the explosion rips across its head.

With a loud thump, the critter lies dead.

“Tommy, you okay?” Alfie is at his side immediately, checking for injuries, wiping the blood off of his face. Tommy can only nod weakly. He turns his head. Fuck.

The vehicles are stuck here, surrounded by the creature’s corpse and there’s yet more critters on the way. Tommy gets his men to move the people over the corpse and assesses their losses. There’s no helping the people crying from underneath the critter’s dark body. Fuck, they can’t even give them a mercy shot, they’ve got no access. Tommy wants to take the hand clawing at the floor from under those scales, but no amount of soldiers helping him would be able to lift this damn beast.

Unable to take more of their wailing, he pulls himself away from that gruesome sight and opens up a map on the ground by the cars trapped on the street before the coiled dead horror. A soldier holds his flashlight to it. Several more are circled around.

“There’s a route down here,” he points, “but it’s too narrow for the bigger cars.”

Alfie points to a separate part, “if we go here, we can get around that.”

Tommy’s eye catches at the wedding band on his finger. He remembers the day they scoured that jewellery store in search for a pearl necklace for Ada and Alfie lingered by the wedding rings, like the hopeless romantic that he is. He can’t think about that now. Tommy shakes his head to clear his mind.

“Too risky to go back north with all of them,” he looks up towards the crowds, “especially with several people on foot now.”

Tommy sighs and wishes they hadn’t opened up the map so close to the dark creature’s body. He can see the blood from its casualties pooling from underneath.

“The smaller cars and the people on foot go through the narrow passage. There’s bound to be a vehicle here or there. Pick it up,” he resumes eyeing the map, “the rest go up here and around. The wider vehicles will provide better protection,” he hopes, “Alfie, you lead the smaller vehicles, take your pick of soldiers to accompany you.”

“Fuck no,” Alfie protests immediately, “what happened to staying with you, eh? Now you want me to leave you behind? Not fucking happening, mate.”

The shooting resumes in the distance.

“Don’t argue with me, Second Lieutenant,” Tommy grabs onto his collar, “do as I say.”

“Tommy-,”

Tommy shuts him up with a kiss.

“Go,” he says softly, “I’ll meet you at the west gates.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

Alfie nods with a heavy heart. He moves away from him and barks out orders at the surrounding soldiers. Tommy takes a breath before doing the same.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Sir-,”

“What?” Alfie snaps.

“We can’t hold the perimeter much longer. We need to leave,” the nervous soldier at his side tries to sound firm. He’s afraid the bigger man is going to stare him into the ground, maybe yell or even hit him. But he doesn’t.

Alfie just stares out into the dark streets fighting his own quiet war with himself. There’s a lot of shooting in the distance and the patter of chitin legs against stone is getting denser and denser in its overwhelming noise. He grits his teeth and then sags his shoulders. There’s so much blood on him already.

Tommy you fucking promised. Alfie wipes his face and sighs.

“Give the order,” he says, tears brimming in his eyes, “we’re moving out.”


	5. Lost and found

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alfie has to deal with the consequences of his choice.

Bunker 1 is an underground structure with one singular entrance for vehicles. It’s built with thick concrete walls and has two back up generators in case the main supply of electricity runs out. There’s plumbing, drinkable water and hallways upon hallways with small rooms going deep into the ground, housing up to 50 000 people. There’s several larger spaces, canteens, gyms and other, the biggest one being the entrance hall.

Usually, there’s only a small crew stationed at the bunker for maintenance, but today, the corridors are brimming with life. Soldiers help civilians out of the cars and into their temporary homes.

He wants to settle in himself, but Alfie is ushered towards an emergency meeting of higher-ups before he can disappear in the fray.

The Lieutenants and Captains are gathered in a smaller room and there’s a screen and speaker connecting them to bunker 2. Most of them look like hell. Alfie imagines he looks no better. There’s so much blood coating their clothes.

It’s hard for him to focus when they speak. The numbness and adrenaline are wearing off, replaced by a heavy pain in his chest. He’s… he’s left Tommy behind. The love of his fucking life, still in the city. Still in hell.

After a while, the soreness from all the activity lets itself be known as well, suddenly making the chafing of his prosthetic near unbearable, but he refuses to sit. Physical pain is a welcome distraction.

“-this unforeseeable and unfortunate event-,” he hears the General say and scoffs, earning him a couple of annoyed glances from the Lieutenants stationed at the south. He can tell that’s who’s eyeing him, because anyone who’s actually been involved in the fighting up north is in their heads right now, just like him, barely there to take notice of anything so trivial. That, and the pristine state of their uniforms, while Alfie is covered in sweat, grime and blood. If he was able to deal with creatures trying to bite off his leg _again_ , they’ll deal with the fucking scoff… and smell.

In the end, around 35 000 people got to bunker one and around 18 000 to bunker 2. That’s 53 000.

That’s 40 000 people dead.

It was deemed nobody’s fault.

The scanners failed because of a calibrating error. No one could have known.

Except that’s a lie. Tommy knew.

Alfie’s mind is racing to reconcile with what happened tonight. Every Lieutenant was given their own chambers and instructed to rest, but suddenly he couldn’t, filled with a new sort of nervous energy buzzing in him as he strode down the cold concrete halls lit with bright white neon lights.

Tommy couldn’t be dead. There simply was no way. He was resourceful and smart and he would find a way here, to Alfie. There is no other way this could end.

“Alfie!”

Oh fuck no. All the buzzing under his skin is drained. He’s exhausted now.

Alfie turns around slowly to see Ada approaching. Along with the rest of the Shelby clan, of course.

“Where’s Tommy?” she asks with hopeful eyes.

Alfie wants to argue, to say that Tommy will be okay, tell her the same rationalisations he’s told himself a second ago, that he’ll be back, but… The only thing he manages is to shake his head. He can’t even look them in the eye.

“You fucking bastard!” Arthur shouts. Others try to calm him but he’s got Alfie against a wall before anyone can react, “you were supposed to protect him! To fucking die for him if you had to! You-,”

He’s pulled away by John and Linda, struggling in their arms as he breaks down in tears. Polly approaches Alfie slowly where he stands, unmoving from the spot he was pinned. She places a hand on his shoulder and swallows, “let’s get all that blood off of you and then you can have a rest. Linda, you take care of Arthur. Ada, come.”

Alfie lets himself be led into his chambers and takes a quick shower as the women make tea. Fucking eerie how easily the blood washes off. He dresses in the sweatpants and t-shirt Polly had laid out for him and enters the main room. The chambers are small, but practical. There’s a tiny bathroom with a shower, a sink and a toilet in all white, lit by the same neon lights that are present in the entire bunker.

The main room is shaped around the bathroom so that together they make a perfect square with a stone floor. Everything in it is either grey or white. Polly’s by the small counters, sieving the tea and Ada is curled up on the only armchair. The room looks about as bleak as everyone in it feels right now.

They drink tea in silence for a while, Polly staying at the counter and Alfie sitting on one of the two beds, stretching out his right leg and wincing when he moves it. He declines Polly’s offer to have her take a look at it. She’s trying to be comforting in her presence, to both Ada and him, but there’s really no comfort for Alfie right now. Tommy’s either dead or alone in a city full of creatures trying to kill him and there’s nothing Alfie can do.

The helplessness is the worst part. If he could go out there, risk his life and get his husband home, he fucking would. But he’s unfocused, in pain and so fucking exhausted. He’d only be walking into his death. At this point, he’s considering doing it anyways. If there’s even a chance, he’d give his life in a heartbeat to save him.

“Alfie, for fuck’s sake, take that thing off,” Polly snaps after she sees him wince from another awkward movement. He doesn’t say anything but he doesn’t stop her either when she approaches and kneels in front of him.

She’s the one who saved his life when he lost his leg. He wasn’t conscious for it, but he knows Tommy froze and it was her who stitched him up and stopped him from bleeding out. Alfie nods as she looks at him up questioningly, before she hikes up his pants to unstrap his prosthetic from his knee and thigh. Taking it off means he’s staying here. A sensible, if difficult choice.

The fresh air adds a painful sting to the chafed area. She sighs, “you boys never know how to take care of yourself. Ada, bring me my backpack.”

After Polly and Ada dress Alfie’s wounds, not that he’s got many, they leave him be with the instruction of getting some sleep. Alfie would like to think sleep is impossible right now, but he is too exhausted to prevent himself from passing out mere minutes after they’re gone.

The next day, Alfie lays in his bed weeping for a good hour before he can bring himself to even sit up. The electric clock tells him it’s already noon. If Tommy wasn’t dead last night, he surely is now. Alfie stays in bed and cries some more.

A voice coming from a speaker on the wall tells him there’s a mandatory meeting in the hall at two. What’s the fucking point?

It’s about three thirty when there’s a banging on the door. Alfie pays it no mind.

The door opens, “Solomons?” the trepid voice belongs to Captain Lee, who breathes a sigh of relief when he spots Alfie laying on the bed, back turned to the door, “at least you’re still breathing.”

Lee steps inside and into Alfie’s view, settling on the armchair. He can probably see Alfie’s bloodshot and puffy eyes, not to mention his vacant stare into the distance. The Captain clears his throat, “I’m sorry for the intrusion, but you missed the meeting and I wanted to make sure you were… okay. Well, as okay as you can be.”

Alfie offers him no answer. He barely even acknowledges the other man’s presence with a glance.

“Well,” Lee looks down, “they’re monitoring the horde’s movement. It should move past New Camden in about a week. We’re measuring it with sensors and sending scouts. When it’s gone, we head back for… clean up and restoration. That’s the gist. Also, they want our reports. On what happened.”

Alfie only closes his eyes.

Lee nods to himself, “you should probably talk to someone.”

“Fuck off, Darius,” Alfie mutters, his voice hoarse. Lee shakes his head, “yeah, no, this,” he motions over Alfie, “not good. At all. Up. Let’s Go. I’m taking you to Dr. Chakwas. That’s an order.”

Alfie looks back into the distance with indifference as he sits up and reaches for his prosthetic.

“Oh, wait, no,” Lee stops him and goes back outside, returning with crutches, “Mrs Gray stopped me outside and told me to give you these.”

Alfie sighs, but he has no will to protest, tying the loose pantleg of his pants so it doesn’t dangle too much before taking the crutches and following Lee out of the room.

“You ought to be careful, Alfie,” Lee whispers as they walk, “you, me, anyone who knows what Tommy’d seen. We’ve all got a target on our back.”

They move towards the large hallway with steel railings that secure them from a fall down to the main entrance hall. Alfie eyes the railing and wonders if the two-story drop would be enough.

Before he can truly process his intentions, there’s noise from below. The gates to the outside are opening and there’s soldiers mulling about. Alfie steps closer to the railing and Lee joins him, both men eager to see what’s going on.

The doors labelled 2 open up and in drives a beaten old truck, packed with about a dozen bloody people and… and there he is.

Unmistakable among the fray.

Blue eyes, high cheeks.

Tommy.

His Tommy.

Alive.


	6. Cracks in the walls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tommy is back, but he's not okay.

Tommy’s not sure when exactly it happened, but he’s gone numb. It had to be some time after they’d set off out of New Camden in that rusty old piece of shit, because he remembers his hands still shook when they approached the car. Now they’re still, just like the rest of him. Is he even alive? He checks his pulse just to be sure.

The gate closes behind them and people start getting off of the truck. He shakes his head in an attempt to clear his mind and jumps off, meeting the approaching guards and medics.

“There’s three badly injured and most of the rest might have internal bleeding, so there’s that to look out for. Danny, he’s… unwell… in the head. You better sedate him before he hurts someone,” his voice is cold when he speaks. He needs to keep it together, but it’s not easy.

The people in front of him nod and disperse among the newly arrived crowd to tend to the wounded. Well, twelve battered people are barely a crowd. A young doctor approaches him with a soft smile, eyeing his dust and blood covered body, “Lieutenant, let’s get you checked out. Can you walk okay?”

“I’m fine,” Tommy shakes his head. He’s not happy about being this deep underground again, but he doesn’t want to go back out there either. A nervous tingle under his skin tells him to run, but he has nowhere else to go. Nowhere that’s safe, at least. Fuck, he longs for his caravan.

The doctor doesn’t seem to be willing to let him go. She takes his upper arm gently and leads him towards a door and through a corridor. Patients are being rushed past him on gurneys and there’s a general sense of urgency in what he assumes to be the hospital area of the bunker.

He’s fussed over by three people, but he’s not really there when they check him out, or when they ask him questions, or when he’s ushered into a bathroom. Why is he here? The nurse left a clean set of clothes.

Right, he needs to shower.

Tommy strips and catches a glimpse of his battered body in the mirror. Feels like there’s a corpse where his reflection should be. He turns away from the mirror. Can’t deal with that now.

One ice cold shower later he feels slightly better, more present and takes his time to slowly put on the clothes laid out for him, wincing when he bends over or lifts his arms. Stepping out into the hospital room, he spots a small bed. It seems he’s been admitted, judging by the chart on the bed and the tag on his wrist. Tommy tries to understand how he feels, his mind a confusing mess. Why is it so fucking hard to think?

There’s a heavy fog settling in his mind, muddying his thoughts. He wants to scream, but he’s not sure he’s still got a voice. The dust has taken it away.

“Mr Shelby?” he snaps his head towards the voice. A young nurse, bright eyed, smiling. The same one from before? How long has she been here? She moves him towards the bed, “you need to rest, sir.”

He lets himself be laid down but refuses the thick covers. They’ll suffocate him.

The kind nurse pats the side of the hospital bed, “we’ll be monitoring you closely until we’re sure you’ve got not internal bleedings,” she retrieves an old sphygmomanometer to measure his blood pressure, “I’ll be coming back once an hour to check. If you’re feeling faint, let us know, but we need you to stay awake for a bit now, alright?”

He nods, although he can already feel his exhaustion like a heavy weight.

“You’ve got visitors,” she sighs when she’s done, “although if they don’t stop making a racket, I’ll have to send them away. Or I could just send them away now, if you don’t feel up to seeing anyone.”

He doesn’t know if he can take his family’s presence right now, at least not all of them at once. It’s hard enough without their eyes on him. He shakes his head, “I’m tired.”

The nurse nods empathetically, “perhaps only one? To monitor you. Or I can stay here myself, if you prefer that.”

“That’s alright,” he can hear the commotion outside. She can’t stay here, she’s needed elsewhere. Tommy’s just going to have to deal, “send Alfie.”

“I’m guessing that would be your spouse? The one threatening my staff members with crutches?” she says playfully.

Tommy huffs out a laugh despite himself, “yeah, that one.”

She smiles again and leaves the room, but he’s not alone for long. Alfie’s face lights up when he sees him and he’s at his side in only a couple of strides despite the crutches. Tommy feels a weight drop from his heart at seeing his husband mostly unharmed. He’d assumed that they all got out okay, but seeing is believing.

The bearded man sits on the edge of the bed and drops his means of getting around, leaning in to press a gentle kiss on Tommy’s lips, stroking his cheek with a tender touch.

“Fucking hell, Tommy,” he croaks, “way to give a man a scare.”

Tommy wants to smile and be happy the way Alfie is right now, but he can’t stop the fucking tears. What the hell is wrong with him? Alfie shushes him as he gingerly leans him forward into his embrace.

“You’re alright now, Tom,” he speaks quietly into his hair as Tommy sobs, arms sneaking around the other man’s waist, “you’re safe and sound, right? Away from all that bullshit.”

But he isn’t. Feels like his head is still buried in the rubble.

Alfie talks. Tommy’s not able to follow his train of thought from behind his fog, but the noise and physical touch helps remind him he’s not trapped in a tunnel. The nurse separates them only enough to measure his blood pressure again. At some point Alfie moves to rest against the headboard with Tommy tucked at his side and no one even dares ask him to leave for the night, even when Tommy’s deemed well enough to sleep.

He’s so fucking tired. With his eyes closed and his mind focused on the fingers in his hair, the warm body at his side and the ramblings about painting some of those concrete walls in the bunkers to take away the feeling of a morgue, he’s able to drift away.

There’s a pitter patter in the distance. But it’s getting closer. The ground is moving, shaking. He can hear the cracks. It’s going to crumble down on them, down on him. The dust will take them and there’s no way out, nothing he can do, they’re so deep-

Tommy wakes with a start. He’s pressed against a snoring Alfie in the hospital bed. It’s dark, impossible to tell the time and fucking hell it’s stuffy. He tries to calm himself down, but then he hears it. The critters, on the other side of the wall.

They’re here.

How the fuck did they get here? The walls are cracking already.

It’s instinct when he grips Alfie’s arm to wake him. Alfie’s gruff voice carries above the claws in the darkness, “Tommy? You okay, mate?”

“Listen,” Tommy whispers frantically. He’s in no shape to get them out of here right now, Alfie’s just going to have to take the lead on this one. Alfie’s smart, he’s a good soldier, he’ll get them out safe before they get through the wall. He should be on his feet any moment, he-

“Listen to what?” he murmurs, turning on a neon light above their bed, the brightness blinding them both momentarily. The noise disappears when the light illuminates the wall. No cracks. There should have been cracks. He heard the fucking cracks.

“Tommy, hey,” Alfie sits up next to him and takes his hand.

“They’re here, Alfie, I heard them,” fuck, he’s shaking, “we need to get out, now.”

“No one’s here, sweetheart,” the bearded man soothes, “we’re safe, eh? And if there were any buggers, we’d know-,”

“What, the fucking sensors? You trust them now?” Tommy protests, “Alfie, you have to believe me. I know what I heard. They were scraping against the walls!”

Alfie only shushes him, trying to hug him, but Tommy can’t let this happen. He’ll lose everything. They need to get out. He tries stepping out of the bed, but Alife pulls him back.

“Tommy, let’s just stay here for a moment, okay?”

No. No, he can’t, he needs to leave, but Alfie’s hold on him doesn’t falter. Tommy struggles and eventually manages to set himself free with an elbow to Alfie’s stomach. If he gets free, he can still make it. Maybe he can save some of them, but he needs to get out now. Alfie will follow. He always does.

The hallway is relatively quiet and dimly lit, a couple of nurses and doctors roaming from room to room. Tommy bolts towards the exit he knows leads to the entrance gates. The scraping against the walls is back. Surely now the others will hear it too and there’s going to be an alarm.

“Tommy, for fucks sake!” Alfie shouts from behind. His leg. He came with crutches. He won’t be able to follow. Tommy turns around and runs towards the man supporting himself against the cold concrete wall, already being approached by that kind nurse from before. The claws against the walls are so loud now.

“You hear it now?” Tommy approaches urgently, “they’re here, we need to get out!”

He wants to give Alfie support to leave, but he stops in his tracks when he notices the concerned look his husband shares with the nurse.

“Mr Shelby,” she approaches gingerly, “perhaps you should sit down a bit. Maybe drink some water.”

“But-,”

“Tommy, there’s no fucking noise,” Alfie cuts in.

What? No. The claws. The creatures. He can hear them, clear as day. Are the others really this blind in their trust to this facility? Are they pretending not to notice? No, Alfie’s never shied away from the truth.

What the fuck is going on?

There’s- There’s more noise. It startles Tommy but Alfie and the others don’t seem to react. A crash from down the corridor. The nurse is at his side, but he can’t take his eyes off the door that bursts open. Oh, fuck. He warned them. Now they’re all going to die.

“Tommy?”

So many creatures, so much noise. The cracks in the walls are finally there. He’d prefer the rubble take him.

And so it does, apparently, because as soon as the nurse touches his arm, the world goes black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, boy, Tommy D:
> 
> Hey, so this part is all finished up :D  
> Next in the series is Yesterday, which is going to be sort of a prequel, taking place well before Today :D  
> And after that, we'll pick up with Tomorrow, which is going to follow the events of Today.  
> So chronologically it goes: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow :)


End file.
